In Her Eyes
by lockheedelektra
Summary: ValterxSelena oneshot, written for SpeedDemon315's challenge. Valter muses on how his relationship with Selena has evolved... and how some things have always stayed the same. Rated for language and implied sex.


Hel-lo all you _Sacred Stones_ fans out there. It is I, lockheedelektra! I come bearing this ValterxSelena oneshot for SpeedDemon315's challenge. I hope that you all shall find it satisfactory, if not at least adequate.

Ici, c'est un disclaimer! I DO NOT OWN FIRE EMBLEM. I'm merely trying to help SpeedDemon315 in her quest to have ValterxSelena conquer the FE fanfiction world.

And so, without further ado, I give you _In Her Eyes_.

-LE (lockheedelektra)

* * *

_He thought she would be startled by his intimidating appearance, but she didn't so much as bat an eyelash at his feral presence. She simply stared unflinchingly at him, her face calm, her stance relaxed yet formal. For reasons unknown, General Selena, the Fluorspar, was completely and utterly unafraid of him._

_It was, quite honestly, baffling._

"_Well met, General Valter," she said with a crisp salute, though something in her voice said she was less than pleased to make his acquaintance. No doubt because of those rumors that he'd killed innocent townsfolk. Of course they were untrue, but no one ever dared to bring them up in his presence, so he never corrected them. Valter didn't much care what people thought of him, anyway; most of the time they were too busy cowering in fear to mention any problems they had with his character._

_Which brought him right back to the lady general again, and her total lack of the aforementioned fear. It was odd seeing a woman regard him so coolly, with just a hint of distaste, but she was pulling it off rather nicely. He did give her a sliver of credit for that. _

_Valter returned the salute, somewhat less stiffly than she had done. The two were attending a dinner party hosted by the Emperor or some other such nonsense—everyone knew that was just a pretense for Vigarde keeping an eye on the nobility. Treachery was an ugly thing, and the Silent Emperor would have none of it. _

_Grado's Moonstone raised an eyebrow at Selena's practical attire. This was his first time seeing her in the flesh, and he expected her to wear something more feminine. Instead her clothing was almost masculine in his practicality. She was a sharp contrast to the other women, who were wearing frilly taffeta concoctions that restricted their breathing more often than not. _

"_Aren't you a little underdressed, General?" he asked smoothly, arching a navy eyebrow. _

_She leveled another stare at him with azure eyes. "Hardly," she responded, icicles dripping from her words. "As generals, we must be prepared in case the enemy was to attack. With so many political figures in one place," she gestured gracefully at the room, "it's as likely as not that they will strike here. If you think I could ride my horse wearing these ridiculous gowns or those excuses for skirts some other women wear, I would like to see you try it first."_

_The Fluorspar crossed her arms decisively and turned to survey the rest of the room. "Besides," she muttered, probably thinking he couldn't hear her, "just imagine the saddlesores…"_

_Valter felt a smirk growing on his face without his permission. He'd never met anyone—much less a female—who spoke so candidly in his presence. It was rather refreshing…_

* * *

Looking back at that evening, he was surprised she hadn't set him on fire by the end of the night. He'd barely let the woman have a few minutes alone—but he did so enjoy watching the anger flash across her face as she spoke to him. Even for weeks afterward, whenever he was in need of some cheering up, he would just think of that blatant rage on the Flourspar's beautiful face.

How amusing she was in her courage! It intrigued him that this slender woman would be the one to stand up to him, like no one else had ever done. Without even thinking about it, he began to separate her from other people in his mind, to consider her special.

Of course he was aware that she had nothing but contempt for him. He knew that his fascination with her was not reciprocated. It was probably due to this that the two generals did not meet again for quite some time. Though their next encounter was just as vehement as the first…

_

* * *

_

She was no less lovely with scorch marks on her face.

_It was an irregular thought, and Valter quashed it almost immediately, but it had been the first thing to come into his head when Selena stormed into his tent, cerulean eyes flashing, golden hair flying like a halo around her head. Her face was smudged with ash, and a few holes had been burned or punctured into her emerald cloak._

_Selena's every motion seemed tight with anger; even her salute was so fierce he briefly wondered if she'd bruised herself. "Moonstone," she snarled, since she never referred to him by his name, "I was under the impression that you ordered your men to leave the townsfolk alone." _

"_Well, no," he said plainly, and went back to studying the map before him. Selena practically seethed; he was sure he could light candles with the force of her rage. "What do you mean, 'no'?! I just witnessed them violate a peasant girl! Are you saying you condone that sort of behavior?!" _

_Valter exhaled through his nose and shifted his attention from the map to the fuming Fluorspar. "'Witnessed'? You mean you didn't do anything about it?"_

"_I scorched their arses all the way to Rausten," she hissed, a certain amount of righteous satisfaction in her glare. "And I'll do the same to you if you don't give me an explanation for this revolting behavior."_

_Once more, a grin snuck onto his face unbidden. It would certainly be interesting to see her try. But the intensity smoldering in her eyes reminded him of the seriousness of the situation, and he schooled his face into a more reserved expression. _

"_General, need I remind you that this is war? Things like this happen all the time. It's impossible to prevent. If I ordered my men to leave the civilians alone, someone would disobey those orders and nothing would change." Convinced that he'd made his point, Valter returned to his map, shifting the figurines that represented the Grado army. _

"_You evil man."_

_His armored hand froze on a knight, and he glanced up with his onyx eyes. "Pardon?"_

"_You sadistic, immoral, inhuman, beastly, savage man," Selena growled. "I have never met anyone with such disregard for human life. This might be war, but those innocent people had no part in it. They should not have to suffer because of your indifference." _

_For a few moments, Valter could hear nothing but his heart thudding in his ears. Selena spun on her heel to leave, but the motion seemed slow, like she was moving through water. There was only one blinding thought in his head, and it was so nonsensical he would puzzle over it for many hours:_

_He did not want her to hate him._

_Valter didn't recall moving towards her, exactly; one second he was standing next to the table, and the next he had seized her arm. "Let go of me," she commanded, but instead he blurted out the first thing on his mind._

"_I'm not evil."_

_A skeptical look crossed her face, and Valter stumbled to amend his childish denial. "I don't—it isn't as though—look, I do not approve of my men's actions. Rest assured they will not go unpunished." Even as he said it he felt the truth of the statement, though he'd never felt the need to discipline his soldiers before. "But I cannot be the guardian of every single person under my jurisdiction. People die and people suffer, that is a fact of life. It is very likely the only thing these peasants will ever know." _All I ever knew. _"What the hell am I supposed to do to stop it?" _

_Something very jarring happened then; Selena's expression softened into shock, then disbelief, then—worst yet—pity. Her blue eyes carried some sort of saddened comprehension, which disconcerted Valter to no end. She couldn't know… she couldn't know about how his father and uncle died protecting their farm… couldn't know how he had to watch the soldiers pass his sister around like a flagon of ale. _

_He released her arm and turned away from her, but he could feel her presence lingering in the doorway of the tent. "Leave me," he said, his tone sounding authoritative and strong even as his mind wandered in the past. _

_Selena stayed right where she was. The damn woman was too stubborn for her own good. _

"_I said __**leave**__!" he snarled, whirling around and baring his teeth at her in a feral manner. He had to scare her off. No one was permitted to see him in a state of—dare he say it—vulnerability._

_But she remained, her back straight, her eyes staring unflinchingly into his. So calm, so unafraid, so… magnificent. _

_Their moment of silence dragged long past the point of discomfort; finally Selena saluted to him, the motion much gentler than her early ones. Somehow her ire had evaporated, leaving only the sympathy that he found much more disturbing. "General Valter," she said as means of a farewell, and left the tent._

_Valter kept his eyes fixed on the space Selena had been, as though he could still see the flash of her golden hair if he tried hard enough. After approximately ten years, he sunk wearily to his bedroll and ran a hand through his navy hair. How was he going to fix this…?_

* * *

He wasn't aware of it at the time, but that little encounter was probably the best thing that could have happened to him at that point. How odd, that the one thing he dreaded—someone discovering the anguish in his past—would lead him towards a turning point in his life.

Selena no longer seemed to be trying to avoid him. They gradually saw more and more of each other, until practically every day they had an hour in the other's company. To an outsider, their exchanges must have seemed just as hostile as before; but Valter could see something shifting in Selena's eyes. It was no longer with complete revulsion that she stared at him; some dislike was still there, yes, but also curiosity, even a sprinkling of compassion. Despite all her cutting remarks, Valter somehow knew: Selena was just as intrigued with him as he was with her.

More startling were the changes that he was undergoing. They started out small, with the punishment of those men who terrorized innocent civilians while on campaign. Shortly afterwards, Valter issued a formal order that peasants were not to be harmed, or he would deal with the offenders himself. Since most of his soldiers were just as frightened of him as everybody else, they complied easily; those who did not soon learned to be afraid of him.

In a matter of days, Valter was running the tightest ship in the Grado Army. Men who were formerly considered demons became known for their discipline; and the Moonstone himself was suddenly greeted not with fear, but respect.

"Quite a complex fellow, our General," he'd overheard one of his men saying to a new recruit. "When I first signed up, I thought him a mad devil. But now he seems to be shaping up to be a decent man."

_A decent man._ What a concept! _What a joke._ He was far from a kind-hearted bastion of friendliness, and Valter made sure to be extra-cruel on the battlefield from then on, just to prove this point. Couldn't have his men thinking he was going soft, now could he?

But one person was not fooled. One stubborn Mage Knight who couldn't let go of her compassion long enough to leave him alone. She knew that there was more to him than his heartless, demon-of-war persona he projected. And try as he might to fight it, Valter knew that eventually she would discover what that hidden side was.

In retrospect, he would have liked to have been sober when he showed that side to her. But that was how life went sometimes.

His memory of that night was foggy at best, but the morning after was as painfully clear as his hangover had been. Because that morning, Selena had looked directly into his eyes, and she didn't even have to say anything for Valter to know that he'd spilled his guts like a complete idiot. It was all right there on her face, the knowledge of what he had been through.

What had he expected after that? That she would just run into his arms and apologize for mistreating him? Hardly. Selena was too strong-minded for that nonsense. Instead he watched the knowledge eat away at her, observed how it conflicted with her previous perception of him. Every day her thoughts were in turmoil; it was plain to see just from looking at her face, even though others swore to him that she looked just as serene as always.

Selena wanted to think that he was just a monster, but she knew in her heart that he was just as human as she was. Or something like that.

As it turned out, Valter underestimated the level of conflict within Serena's mind. There were far more powerful emotions roiling inside both of them, but they didn't come to light until one fated night at a roadside inn…

* * *

"_I __**cannot**__ believe I just did that," Selena said, clutching the sheet to her body. She glanced behind her to where Valter lay. He'd been admiring the silky expanse of her back, but the blush that still tinged her cheeks was quite lovely as well. _

"_Hm?" He hadn't heard her at all. She rolled her eyes and got off the bed, though she wrapped the sheet around herself so quickly he didn't get another glance at her backside. "That's exactly what I mean," she said as she retrieved her scattered clothes. "Of course you wouldn't care about something like this. Not that I expected you to, and naturally it doesn't mean anything to me, either. It was just a drunken mistake."_

"_I'd hardly call it a 'mistake'," he drawled, standing from the bed and stretching briefly. He didn't miss how Selena's reflection followed his motions in the mirror. _

_The lady general shook herself and returned her attention to somehow getting dressed without letting the sheet fall down. She was fighting a losing battle. "Yes, it was," she insisted. "We both know that nothing will come of this. For God's sake, we're at each other's throats half the time."_

_Oh, he'd certainly been at her throat last night—though not the way she was thinking of._

"_It doesn't have to be that way," he said quietly, tentatively. He placed his hand on her shoulder, drawing close so that their bodies almost touched. Her reflection in the mirror transfixed him, the way her cobalt eyes glimmered with defiance, regret, sadness. _

"_Selena." _

"_No." And she pulled away, turned away from him and his twin in the mirror. She'd never hidden from him like this before. Whenever they had their little spats, she always stared boldly into his eyes, as though he was not a head taller and a good deal stronger than her. Something was wrong, and Valter wanted nothing more than to fix it, to bring that fearlessness back into her eyes. _

"_Selena, just—"_

"_Stop it, Valter. Stop pretending that you're a warm, caring man, because you aren't." She whirled around, but instead of fire in her eyes there was shimmering water. "You're just a heartless, cruel—" but her rant died on her tongue before it could fully begin, and the Fluorspar snarled in frustration. Then suddenly she flew into his arms—which was rather confusing at first because she'd for all appearances been ready to chew him out—and she beat on his chest in anger, small fists flailing. "Damn you! I was supposed to be stronger than this! I was supposed to think only of Grado! Why… why, damn you?!" _

_His reaction was purely instinct; it seemed the only proper thing to do in the situation. He wrapped his arms around her and let her rage against his chest, stroking her golden hair softly. Selena's words devolved into unintelligible sobs, then sniffles, and then finally she seemed to accept the sanctuary of his embrace and fell silent. _

_That is, until she said something that made every cell in his body take notice._

"_What was that?" he asked softly, incredulous that he'd heard her correctly._

"_I said that you weren't supposed to be like this." She looked up at him, azure orbs shining with their old light again. "You weren't supposed to make me fall in love with you."_

_For the first time in his life, Valter was so shocked he had to sit down._

_She was being completely honest, that much he could tell. The lucidity had returned to her gem-like eyes, and even now she watched him with all the courage she'd always displayed. Only now there was no hate in her gaze, only determined hope. Selena had laid out everything she had, all for his wretched soul. Was he worth such an amazing person?_

_Then again, how could he refuse?_

_Without a word, he stood and kissed her fiercely, and somehow she understood. She understood the man that he truly was, and accepted it, just like that, like no one else had ever done. It could only be her, he realized; only the compassionate, fiery, tenacious, wonderful Selena could have made his soul burn like this. _

_Accursed lungs and their need for oxygen. They parted reluctantly, and her face seemed to be glowing as she smiled up at him. _

"_It won't be easy," he said. "I don't know if I can be the man you deserve."_

"_I know it," she said reassuringly, placing her hand over his heart. "He's in there. And besides," her smile became a coy grin and her eyebrows did something subtly Satanic that made his blood turn to fire, "I've got the rest of a lifetime to whip you into shape." _

* * *

"Thinking about something?"

The navy-haired general grinned up at his softly smiling companion. Her blonde hair shimmered white and red in the light of the low-burning candle on their bedside.

"Nothing of great importance," he replied casually, shifting so that his head rested comfortably on a pillow.

"Oh really? We'll see about that…"

Selena crawled into the bed with him, eyes glimmering with mischief and daring and love. Meeting his without hesitation, just as they had so long ago.

* * *

Whew! I sure am cutting it close with this. Hopefully this doesn't count as 'past the deadline'.

Read, rave, review, whatever; just let me know what you think if you've got the time. Thanks for reading!


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